Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR)

Artists impression: Sentinel-3
(Credit: ESA/J.Huart)

The Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) on the ESA/EU GMES Sentinel-3 mission will provide highly accurate measurements of global Earth surface temperatures. Data from SLSTR will continue the sea surface temperature (SST) records provided by the successful Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) series. As with ATSR, the principle design feature is a conical scanning geometry that provides two views of the earth at different view angles to enable accurate atmospheric correction. SLSTR builds on the concept by incorporating a wider swath to improve the global coverage and incorporates additional spectral channels to improve cloud detection and forest fire detection.

The design concept for SLSTR, that was originally proposed in from studies undertaken by RAL Space and Thales, is currently being developed for flight by the instrument prime contractor Selex Galileo (Italy). RAL Space scientists and engineers are playing a key role in the development of the instrument design, its calibration and the definition of the data products and processing algorithms. A dedicated facility is being built at RAL Space for the pre-flight calibration activities that are essential for SLSTR providing accurate and traceable measurements.